And on Thursday, May 15, she rested. Maybe.

It's going to rain all. day. long. Well, maybe not all day, but when I look at the hourly forecast it's supposed to let up at noon. When I'll be in a meeting.

And so, unless something really inspires me later this afternoon, this will probably be a no-walking day. I'd like to keep the streak going, though – I haven't missed since April 7 – so I wouldn't be surprised if I hit the road later. And you shouldn't be, either! Heh.

The coming week will at least be better for walking temperature-wise than the last few days have been. If you don't get out early on a day when the thermometer rises to nearly 90 (in MAY!), you're going to suffer. Or at least I do. But we have a week of 60s and low 70s coming up – pretty perfect for walking and running and gardening.

I still don't have the fence around the garden, but I've planted the onions, summer squash, tomatoes and peppers. I dumped coffee grounds around the tomatoes and peppers, because I've heard the deer don't like the scent and, well, we have plenty of coffee grounds around here. But no fence. One does what one can.

Primary day is done and dusted. I ran unopposed for a seat on our county's Democratic Executive Committee. I didn't need to campaign, which was nice, but I was still invited to all the meet-the-candidate events, so I got to test my public speaking skills a few times. Not something I've ever been especially comfortable doing, but the older I get the less self-conscious I am. Imagine that.

Republicans don't turn out for the primaries the way Democrats do, which gives us Dems a sense of hope, looking at the numbers. But Democrats don't turn out for the general election the way Republicans do – why is that!?!?! – so we have a lot of work to do. We have some great candidates with good plans and policies, and we'll need to push, push, push to turn Democrats who vote in the primary into Democrats who vote every damned chance they get.

That would be me.

On a sad note, my neighbor died yesterday. He'd been in two different ICU units for the past two weeks, one in West Virginia and one in NC. He was married but had no children. He was a farmer and a railroader and the best neighbor anyone could ever hope for. We talked about sports and politics and weather – always the weather. He gave my grandchildren tractor rides when they visited, unasked – just showed up when they arrived and told them to get in the cab. He made sure our driveway was plowed when it snowed. He let me pick apples and turnip greens from his garden.

I'm sure going to miss him. He was only 57. A hard worker, and a good man with a fatal flaw. Rest in peace, my friend.